BUENA VISTA TWP, MI - Nexteer Automotive officials recently announced plans to lay off 80 employees. It's unclear how many of those affected worked at the Saginaw County plant and how many worked at the company's global headquarters in Auburn Hills, but Buena Vista Township Superintendent Torrie Lee said this workforce reduction could impact the local economy.

"As we know, the automotive industry is extremely volatile at the moment, so there's always definitely some uncertainty," Lee said. "Separations are always tough."

The decision comes as the company reduces its U.S. workforce to better align with current industry demands, Nexteer Automotive Senior Vice President Hervé Boyer said in a statement.

Related: Nexteer Automotive cuts 80 jobs across Michigan facilities

Lee said she wasn't surprised to hear about the layoffs, which were announced this month. However, she noted she doesn't foresee any more layoffs at the Buena Vista Township plant.

"I was informed last year that there would be several different rotations of planned separations," she said. "I believe that is the last round of separations that they plan to do with the engineering team."

While not all the laid-off employees reside in Buena Vista Township, officials are concerned about the impact the loss of jobs could have on local businesses, Lee said.

"We are sensitive to the fact of people being separated from their employment," she said. "I'm sure that a lot of those people went to our restaurants, our gas stations, our local stores here in the township."

Nexteer Automotive is the second largest employer in Saginaw County, and 3,800 of the company's 3,900 Michigan employees worked at the township's plant as of 2022, according to Saginaw Future Inc., an economic development firm.

With a total of 27 manufacturing plants as of 2022, the company produces motion control technology for electric and hydraulic power steering systems, steering columns, driveline systems, driver assistance systems, and automated driving enabling technologies.